Your circuit breaker is one of the most important safety systems in your home. It detects when there is too much electrical current running through the circuit and cuts power until the problem is fixed. If your home didn’t have a circuit breaker, electricity would be too dangerous to use in a house as the risk of potential fires, injury or death would be too high.
How do circuit breakers work?
When electricity comes into your home from the grid, it enters through a circuit breaker. From there it is divided into many circuits which lead to different areas of your home. Each circuit is protected by it’s own breaker. Each circuit in your home is designed to take on a certain load. For example, the circuit that powers the kitchen and all it’s many appliances will have a greater capacity than the circuit that powers the bedrooms. Learn how to determine the amperage of a circuit breaker.
Your electrical system, including the wire, wire insulation and the breaker, all have limits. If too much electrical current is running through a circuit, it can cause bad things to happen. The wire will start to heat up and the insulation around the while can melt. If it melts than the current is now loose in the wall and that’s how fires start. That is why you need a circuit breaker to stop the current before there is any danger.
Common reasons the circuit breaker trips:
Circuit overload: The most common reason why your breaker will trip is because the circuit is overloaded. That means you are running too many things off the same circuit. You’ll have to move some of those appliances or devices to another circuit in the home or make sure you’re not using them all at once to reduce the electrical load.
If you’ve redistributed the devices and appliances, it might be overloading because a certain appliance is overheating. Try unplugging your devices one at a time and see if that makes the difference. If not, contact Renovationfinds best electricians in Calgary to take a look and remedy the situation.
Short circuit: This is when a hot wire touches another hot wire or a neutral wire inside one of your receptacles. When they touch, it causes a lot of current to flow, creating more heat than the circuit can carry. The safety feature is shutting down the circuit. Short circuits are very dangerous as they are a potential fire hazard. Check your switches and outlets for any black or brown marks or for the smell of burning. If you find signs of a short circuit, contact an electrician immediately.
Ground fault: A ground fault is when a hot wire touches the copper ground wire on the side of a metal outlet box that is connected to that ground wire. You can detect a ground fault by looking for brown or black burn marks and the smell of burning.
In conclusion, if our circuit breaker continues to trip you should consider it a warning sign that something is wrong with your electrical system. Do not put this home repair off. Contact a certified electrician to fix the problem before it starts a fire or injures someone in your home.
Original Source: http://www.bloggernews.net/140355
Original Date: Mar 7 2018
Written by: Simon Barrett
